William Edward Martin (1874-1939)
WILLIAM EDWARD MARTIN My father would often tell stories about his dad and his life. William only attended school when the family was living in England, dropping out at age 9. He was, however, an avid self-taught student and would often speed read several books from the library each week and could quote chapter and verse from most of the New Testament and much from the Old. My father was particularly amazed by his father's ability to do math in his head, adding or substrating columns of figures with ease and without error. Too bad Grandpa Will never had the opportunity for more formal education! He was a very religious man and very active in the Revere Baptist church. Dad would tell of all the visitors from church at their home and the missionaries who would stay with them when in the Boston area. If there was somebody who needed a place to stay (especially during the Great Depression) or didn't have any place to go for Sunday dinner or for Christmas, they were always welcome. For extra money, as well as a free ride to visit his family in Portland, Will would work as the conductor on the trolley which ran from Boston to Portland. He would also make taffy and spend hours pulling candy by hand to sell. Given all his gifts his one fault was that he had no money sense at all and fortunately for the family Nana was a great business woman and managed the financial affairs. My father said that his dad was out of work for many months during the worst of the depression, but the family never wanted for much with everyone putting in what they could and Nana counting the pennies.(4) After arriving in Portland, William went to work for Loring, Short and Harmon as a book binder where he met May Estelle. In later years Will still would take in the odd book binding job and my father remembered helping out with these projects.(4) In 1904 the family moved to Waterbury, CT then to Lowell, MA by 1907 and then finally to Revere, MA in 1912. After moving to Revere, Will worked for Forbes Lithograph in Chelsea as a paper cutter. Dad said that from gripping paper for so many years his father had huge forearms and looked like Popeye!(4) William became a citizen 9 Sept. 1892 in Portland, ME.(5) The following article was published in the Revere Journal 6 July 1939 at his death: "Revere lost one of its finest citizens this week in the death of William E. Martin. He died at his home, 27 Eustis St., Tuesday evening of heart trouble. He had started on a trip to Washington a few weeks ago and was obliged to discontinue his trip when he was taken with a heart attack in Bridgeport, Conn. He was just home from Bridgeport a week when he passed away. Mr. Martin was in his 65th year. He was born in London, England and had been in this country since the age of nine. He had lived in Revere for the past 26 years. For 27 years he was employed at the Forbes Lithograph plant in Chelsea. Mr. Martin was interested in everything good for Revere. He gave up much of his time in the interests of the Boy Scouts. As chairman of the board of trustees of Ye Old Burying Ground, he contributed a great deal of time and effort to the upkeep of this historic spot. He was interested in the drive for funds with which to errect the Legion building and raised over $600 personally. There was no civic movement in Revere to which Mr. Martin did not give his best efforts and help in every possible way. He was a member of Eagle lodge, K. of P., and the Revere Men's Club and an active member of the First Baptist Church." Children |- |colspan="3" bgcolor="#FFfce0" style="color: #000000;" |'Children of William & May (McCausland) Martin' References *(1) General Register Office- London, UK *(2) Vital Records- Revere, MA *(3) Vital Records- Portland, Maine *(4) Oral history- Milton T. Martin *(5) Naturalization Records- National Archives, Washington, D.C., Cumberland County Superior Court, Portland, Maine- Vol. 11, p. 87 Category:Born in Deptford Category:Married in Portland, Maine Category:Died in Revere, Massachusetts Category:Non-SMW people articles